By Alec Meer on September 25th, 2009 at 11:08 pm.
If you’re a fellow Britisher, you may have caught a staggeringly unpleasant, one-sided and sensationalist half-hour of fact-free garbage on ITV earlier tonight. It’s about videogames and addiction, and because a handful of young people they document demonstrate significant emotional or social problems and play videogames a lot, this of course means games are monstrously addictive with tragic long-term consequences. It couldn’t possibly be that they play videogames for too long and too intensely because of their other problems or circumstances, could it? NO NO NO DON’T TALK SENSE.
It’s irresponsible, partisan and sickening reporting, whose entire argument is based around a bunch of non-gamers saying that they think games are bad. Games are addictive because a man says they’re addictive, apparently. Listen out for the number of times the word “believes” is used. It also rants about the case where one online gamer killed another’s lover – which is entirely irrelevant to the programme’s chosen topic of addiction, but because it’s all games are bad m’kay, hell, let’s thrown it in there anyway!
I’m not offended because I work in the games industry (because, let’s be honest, it’s an industry often capable of poor taste and judgement, and even exploitation*). I’m offended because insidious pseudoscience is being passed off as news and fact. If another programme wants to say games are dangerously addictive and has the facts to prove it, then I promise I’ll listen politely and even rethink my views on the matter if the weight of empirical and scientific evidence is strong and thorough enough. But all this offers is a pre-determined agenda.
Oh, there are a few facts. 43% of kids surveyed, for instance, say they felt angry when their parents tell them to stop playing games. And this is, of course, because they’re addicted. Not because they’re pissed off that their parents are forcibly stopping them from having fun. Couldn’t possibly be that.
This poisonous trash will probably make you angry. You should watch it anyway, to see just how low the British media can sink, and the straws that anti-game campaigners can so desperately grasp at. You can watch it here – it’s available on ITV’s site for the next seven days, but non-UK folk will need some sort of proxy/IP-fiddling tech to watch it.
Well, at least they didn’t interview Anne Diamond.
* While I don’t – hey! – believe in gaming addiction as any sort of chemical thing, I do worry that some games/developers knowingly rely on proven compulsive elements – e.g. pervasive item collection and multiple forms of levelling up – at the expense of more interesting or satisfying design. This isn’t something I can back up at present, hence I’m not going to film a documentary about it.
25/09/2009 at 23:17 Noc says:
On the other hand, 68% of children surveyed became angry when their parents told them that they had to eat their broccoli before they’d be allowed desert.
DESERT: AN INSIDIOUS MENACE?! Find out if YOUR child could be in danger!
25/09/2009 at 23:59 seanfish says:
Exactly what I thought – kids and particularly teens are often angry at their parents.
26/09/2009 at 00:19 coupsan says:
lol desert
26/09/2009 at 04:51 Nerd Rage says:
I agree, the desert is far more menacing than a dessert.
26/09/2009 at 05:31 Noc says:
Seriously. The Desert kills HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE A YEAR.
You’d have to be CRAZY to let your children out into it, ESPECIALLY without eating their vegetables.
25/09/2009 at 23:19 Lambchops says:
They may have missed the obvious Anne Diamond interview but did they interview Vince “Games are Evil” Cable?
I don’t think I can be bothered watching the media yet again display an astounding level of stupidity towards arguments about the negative influence of games – i’ve got decent TV like Peep Show and Derren Brown to catch up on!
25/09/2009 at 23:35 Lambchops says:
And when I say Vince Cable I mean Keith Vaz
Quite how i got the Lib Dem finance minister and an idiot mixed up is beyond me!
25/09/2009 at 23:48 James G says:
Haha! I did wonder. Was thinking, “Huh, haven’t heard him say anything along those lines,” and was vaguely disappointed that he had done so.
26/09/2009 at 01:10 The Hammer says:
Leave Vince Cable alone! :(
25/09/2009 at 23:20 Arienette says:
I saw this at work and I was shocked at how this woman was passed off as a journalist.
Her three arguments appeared to be three heavily biased case studies used to represent millions of people, that addiction clinics say it exists (hmm, conflict of interest) and that she was a mother, the best argument of all.
I was practically shouting at the screen, beginning for evidence or even mention of a single study. I’m even more appalled that people around the country will take it all as fact.
Serious issues dressed up to demonise the target of the moment, ultimately harming anyone involved further.
…. also, bad bad parents.
25/09/2009 at 23:23 subedii says:
Calm down Alec, remember to breathe. :P
These pieces are designed to be obtuse and sensationalist. They’re the equivalent of tabloid pieces.
Honestly, I wouldn’t get worked up about it, the next generation already knows that games aren’t “the devil”, and it’s not like they’re going to grow up with different opinions because of stuff like this.
This isn’t that bad for how “low the media can sink”. In the grand scheme of things whining about videogames is just another “get off my lawn you meddling kids!” piece. When I think of how low the media’s sunk it’s usually more along the lines Fox News telling people that the UK is a commie socialist nightmare, or the UK tabloid press. That stuff really gets my goat. This? I can usually laugh at it because I know that even if people do believe the tripe, it doesn’t have too much effect. Tomorrow’s legislators are already playing Halo and Team Fortress today, not much else can be said.
25/09/2009 at 23:23 Jahkaivah says:
“Sir, this is about addiction…. how is a tale about one gamer killing another over a girlfriend relevant?”
“Bah details….. be sure to quickly flash the inverted colours of the killer’s photo though, that makes him seem more evil”
25/09/2009 at 23:31 Homunculus says:
Enhance your calm, Alec Meer. And rejoice in the joy-joy news that videogaming’s Prodigal Son Charlie Brooker will be devoting a programme incuding the topic of how the media represents gamers in Gameswipe this Tuesday.
25/09/2009 at 23:34 LewieP says:
Very looking forwards to this, it is probably the best chance we have of good games TV since VideoGaiden.
26/09/2009 at 01:46 Andrew says:
I had no idea about this! i was all set to have an angry rant but now i’m doing a happy dance in my chair..
25/09/2009 at 23:31 Sparvy says:
Anyone else remember the dutch (or possibly danish, not sure) clinic that was trying to cure video game addiction? After a couple of years of parents sending them their sons they shut down because they realise that none of their patients showed any of the symptoms usually connected with addiction and the process usual addicts goes through when trying to go “clean”.
The idea of gaming addiction is a joke, albeit a twisted one, in comparison to the real addictions and the problems they bring both to the individual and to the society at large. But I suppose reporting on those real issues isn’t “modern” or “cool” enough these days.
26/09/2009 at 01:01 Jonas says:
That was Dutch.
Thankfully.
25/09/2009 at 23:34 Schmung says:
sob, sob, sob
I’d watch it, but that would mean that I would have to use ITV player. This is a piece of software that, until recently did not work on ITVs own PCs.
I’ll hold my tongue and say nothing beyond that, because I am in the unfortunate position of being employed by them (for the moment at least) – unless that is someone wants to have a proper moan about the program to the duty office (all comments and complaints recorded and published) or press office, whos numbers I shall be only to happy to provide.
25/09/2009 at 23:36 LewieP says:
Ha!
As I click the link, the first thing I hear is “ITV – The brighter side”
25/09/2009 at 23:37 Arnulf says:
From the sound of it this is what in Germany was for a very long time a typical TV report of youth and videogames. Especially after another one of those dreadful school shootings. Only recently they’ve come around a bit.
25/09/2009 at 23:39 Niall Sheffield says:
Wow, I loved how you typed in this piece. Too often do games journalist stay quiet while their hobby/job is covered in rubbish spewed from the mouth of people who nothing of what they talk about. Keep it up!
25/09/2009 at 23:39 LewieP says:
Also: They should do an program about addiction to books. I hear people read book all the time.
25/09/2009 at 23:41 Schmung says:
Books don’t even have a ratings system! Anyone can buy a book full of all sorts of the worst filth and violence and sex. I for am outraged! Phone the Mail immediately.
25/09/2009 at 23:43 subedii says:
Not me, I get all my information from the tabloid press and opinion-piece led journalism. It marks me out as an informed individual.
25/09/2009 at 23:47 Some Guy says:
books are very eviele, you can get anything in them, far more descriptive sex of any knid are avalable in books.
26/09/2009 at 00:15 Gorgeras says:
I once saw that someone had drawn a penis and boobs in a book. I immediately contacted the publisher and demanded that the book be patched or changed in some way to prevent people inserting their own inappropriate content.
26/09/2009 at 00:28 golden_worm says:
and how about the far more prevalent “addiction” to crappy, sensationalist, non-interactive, lowest common denominator TV programmes, such as the ones spewed up by the cretins at ITV? I bet a study could be made which would definitively show that ITV’s output also causes obesity (they encourage you sit and watch for hours on end, not even thumb exercise) , depression (because of the relentless and now largely unobtainable commercialism), and even secondary gambling addiction (those late night “guess what word we are thinking of” “game” shows ….or did they have to take them off air? I’ve not watched ITV for a few years now except by accident).
To be honest I think we have to get beyond TV now. What does it offer that the internets can’t do better?
or for that matter a good book?
26/09/2009 at 02:00 Bhazor says:
I was able to buy Dice Man and Lolita from WH Smith at the age of 12.
25/09/2009 at 23:43 Dante says:
Phew, my faith in super Vince nearly shattered there.
25/09/2009 at 23:45 fucrate says:
20 million kids are eaten by bats every second.
26/09/2009 at 00:13 subedii says:
For those that haven’t seen the comic in question:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/2/9/
25/09/2009 at 23:48 Carra says:
It’s programs like this that make gaming as an adult conceived as not done or even unhealthy.
25/09/2009 at 23:54 Nighthood says:
I suppose the average age of gamers is less than 13 in the studies they have done or some such number.
25/09/2009 at 23:53 Dave says:
When hearing anything like this about games, I substitute “TV” or “comic books” or “penny dreadfuls” or any popular media from any age, and see if it sounds just as silly. It almost always does.
25/09/2009 at 23:54 LewieP says:
Holy crap, an empty milk bottle, I never thought of that. Cheers ITV.
26/09/2009 at 02:56 Stu says:
Thanks to his accent, I’m not sure whether he spends his time “sitting” or “shitting” in his gaming chair. Given his use of a milk bottle for a urinal, I strongly suspect the latter.
25/09/2009 at 23:55 SirKicksalot says:
Stuff like this makes me regret that I chose gaming journalism as the theme of my license thesis…
…but on the other hand, the repetitive arguments will lead to a pretty short chapter dedicated to this type of criticism.
25/09/2009 at 23:59 Lewis says:
Anyone unfortunate enough to follow me on Twitter will have seen my angry live-updating about this. Eugh. I actually went into it genuinely open to some well-reported stuff on a problem that seems to be on the rise. Instead, it was the story of three kids whose parents were unable to control them to any degree, so they sat and played games all day, because if you don’t build a good relationship with your kids they will do what they feel like.
Then we had an “interview” with a psychologist, in which the poor lady was asked leading question after leading question until she finally said the word “addiction”, at which point the show moved on with PROFESSIONAL WORD that gaming addiction is a problem. Someone’s mum agreed, saying “it’s my belief that…” a lot, before a Dutch man – absolutely with no evidence or even reasoning to back up such an impossibly, offensively ridiculous claim – said that gaming addiction “could well be more dangerous than regular chemical addiction.” The TV says so, guys: games are worse than drugs.
Then, staggeringly, we’re told the actually genuinely tragic story of a young gamer who was murdered after a mentally ill man fell in love with his girlfriend, having met her through an online game which I guess it’s safe to assume is World of Warcraft (the programme tastefully referred to it as ‘cyberland’). Which, y’know, is a genuinely awful story. Except the programme then has the audacity to state – get this – that this was because the troubled killer was addicted to the game, and thus had fallen into some sort of alternate reality where the actions within the game were inseperable from actions in real life. A symptom of gaming addiction, it would seem.
We’re also told the equally terrible story of a young man who committed suicide in front of his computer. His mother – who, okay, has experienced the most terrible tragedy imaginable – says this shows that gaming can be life-threatening.
Then, finally, we have a spokesperson from the games industry. “Should games have a time limit programmed in?” he’s asked. “No, of course not,” he says. And then, without another comment on the matter, the programme ends.
Yeah. I’m still really angry about how much utter nonsense, Bad Science and general misinformation was portrayed. Like you say, Alec, it clearly had an agenda, and when no evidence could be found to support the case, just went for plain making shit up or tying things together so loosely it fell apart from the very first second.
26/09/2009 at 00:16 Dante says:
Since you mention Bad Science Lewis, I’ve sent this off to Ben Goldacre, to see what he makes of it.
26/09/2009 at 00:00 manintheshack says:
I really don’t want to watch that.
I remember seeing something presented by that arse, Trevor McDonald, years ago and it was truly disturbing, more disturbing than games could ever pupport to be. One of their tests involved sitting a bunch of infants down with GTA and then later asking them what they thought of it. Of course they thought it was cool, or disgusting – both excitingly vulgar reactions for the idiots who produced and watched the program – and this was apparently a satisfyingly in-depth test to determine the influence that violent games had on children.
The nut-shot came when they reported on a story where a couple of kids had taken their father’s rifle and shot at motorists on the freeway. It was GTA’s fault, naturally, they interviewed the parents and they said so. It was definitely nothing to do with the fact that they had access to a FUCKING LOADED WEAPON.
Ach, what’s the use.
26/09/2009 at 00:01 LlamaFarmer says:
This reminded me of a lesson I had in religious and moral education when I was ickle. The teacher showed us a video documentary about the effects of video games and we learnt this: if you played Street Fighter you would tell a stranger to keep his hand in a bucket of ice so it hurt for longer than someone who hadn’t played the game…
This never bother me till now, I had forgotten about it, but this post reminded me of my teacher’s lip quivering with the fear and anger about these games turning us into violent terrors – and that itself annoys me, do people that have no reason to know better really think that all gamers are stalkers/psycho killers in the making? Maybe that’s why my mum didn’t think that much of my game playing, until I got her hooked on Zookeeper and Prof Layton that is, muahahaha!
Mind you, I shouldn’t worry what what my RME teacher thought, she did talk to an inflatable pig (“Piggy”) during class.
26/09/2009 at 00:08 Spiny says:
I’d suggest people complain:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consumer/2009/09/broadcast-complaints-2/
26/09/2009 at 00:25 Dante says:
That’s not actually a bad idea, the reactionaries are all too happy to abuse the complaints system to get something they see as vulgar off the air, why shouldn’t we use it to try and uphold a proper standard of journalism?
26/09/2009 at 00:33 LlamaFarmer says:
Good idea. In fact, I have done just as you have suggested, using the sort of sentences I imagine my dad uses when writing his letters of complaint, using such phrases as “sensationalist drivel” and “frankly misleading and insulting”. I went for the poor journalism rather than “I heart games” approach as Alec mention below, since there could be some sort of issue here, if only it was studied…I was going to say properly, but just at all.
26/09/2009 at 10:08 Lewis says:
Have done so. Each week Ofcom publishes a list of all programmes which have received more than ten complaints. I’d really hope this appears.
26/09/2009 at 00:09 lumpi says:
Sigh…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation
26/09/2009 at 00:13 Coded One says:
Anybody have a good proxy so I can view this here in the US? I’ve searched for some but few that I’ve tried work.
I’m always interested in bullshit scapegoats, and video games put the Salem witch trials to SHAME. I’m glad to see that America isn’t the only country with biased journalism.
So yeah, good proxy?
26/09/2009 at 01:33 Wooly says:
Me too! I could use a good laugh/headache-inducing-rage.
26/09/2009 at 00:16 GreatUncleBaal says:
Hmmm. I don’t think I’ll watch this just yet, because I’m liable to get the angers, but I am quite interested in how any supposedly antisocial and “evil” influence slowly becomes more acceptable as it becomes more profitable (ie rock music a few decades ago, comics as already mentioned etc). As gaming is now popular culture, the collective voice of dissent against such demonisation will reach a critical mass at some point, when the media and advertising community will wake up and realise they need to actually take gamers seriously or lose revenue. They won’t be more educated, necessarily, but they will be more careful about what they say.
26/09/2009 at 00:20 Alec Meer says:
I’ve always loved that gramophones were once considered sickeningly anti-social, in a similar sort of way to kids playing music on their phones on the bus today. Playing music in one’s own home? Why, ’tis the end times!
(Also, I happen to own a gramophone. It is a beautiful, stately thing, and to think it was once thought offensive is beautifully absurd.)
26/09/2009 at 00:23 Sparvy says:
Come to think of it we should be grateful, kids these days have to go such extremes to rebel against their parents. Back in the days they had hippies, pop, rock and all other kinds of devils work that young people could use to rebel. Now those people are the parents, and the new generations have fight to even raise an eyebrow. I say thank you for the demonisation of videogames, the only other alternative is drugs!
26/09/2009 at 02:10 noom says:
I’ve taken to referring to my iPod as my gramophone. Makes me feel less of a puppet of effective marketing for owning one ^_^
26/09/2009 at 00:18 GreatUncleBaal says:
I’ve just re-read my post and realised it’s quite wanky, but there is a point in there somewhere.
26/09/2009 at 02:12 Malibu Stacey says:
There’s a large amount of good point and no “wanky”-ness that I can see.
Have more faith in your words man!
26/09/2009 at 00:18 mandrill says:
This kind of thing is symptomatic of the fear that old media feels coursing through its body as they fail to keep up with the new and wonderful ways that digital technology make entertainment and information available to the masses. They feel threatened and instead of stepping up and changing the way they do things they attack the thing which threatens them.
This kind of ‘journalism’ with regard to games is nothing new. Its been around for decades but with different targets. The older generation doesn’t understand that the younger one belongs to a radically different culture with its own modes of expression, sources of entertainment and methods of communication. It happened with Jazz in the ’20s, Rock’n'roll in the ’50s, the counter culture in the ’60s, and pretty much everything else that ‘the yoof’ embraced as their own since.
Ignore it, it will go away as more and more of the older generation die off to be replaced by those who grew up with gaming as a part of their culture and lifestyle. Correction, the target will change to something else. Something that our children will embrace and that we will abhor as newfangled and dangerous.
26/09/2009 at 00:21 Schmung says:
Suggest you moan to ITV directly via the following :
0844 88 14150
dutyoffice@itv.com
26/09/2009 at 00:23 Alec Meer says:
If anyone is planning an official complaint, I suspect you’re better off doing it under the umbrella of innacurate reporting/poor journalism rather than frothing rage or games-are-great.
26/09/2009 at 00:22 Smiler says:
I think its really shocking that so many people still expect ITV not to be exclusively trash. That so many of you seem to expect something better from this channel is surprising, when ITVs idea of news/documentary programming essentially involves taking the most offensive and reactionary parts of the daily mail and filming them. They find the most inbred and ill educated people to appear in their docs, as that’s exactly who the target audience is.
I can’t remember the last time i even considered watching ITV (discounting when they showed the original Wicker Man a few months ago) and rather than get angry, i advise everyone to just never press the number 3 on your remote.
26/09/2009 at 00:22 Mike says:
As ever, our response to things such as this has to be tempered, or we’ll look like lunatics and children. It’s silly, yes, it’s baseless, yes, it’s terrible science, yes. This is nothing new, so we just respond to the criticisms and move on.
26/09/2009 at 00:22 Hoernchen says:
Thank god they are just addicted ! Just image what will happen when they start killing people – everyone knows playing pc games leads to violence. Death. The plague. etc.
26/09/2009 at 00:29 GreatUncleBaal says:
Exactly – I was playing Dyson today, and I slaughtered hundreds of seedlings. I regret nothing, therefore I must be a moral degenerate. Oh, happy days.
26/09/2009 at 00:27 Woges says:
I wanna live like common people; I wanna do whatever common people do.
I wanna sleep with common people; I wanna sleep with common people like you.
Oh what else could I do?
I said I’ll… I’ll see what I can do.
26/09/2009 at 00:30 Magnus says:
I’d recommend that nobody watches ITV. It’s like The Sun of television. I can almost feel my brain cells dying off for every second I watch, so I avoid it like the plague.
It’s television “reporting” like this, and the way large amounts of the general public actually believe this crap, that really makes me mad. Even the BBC puts out similar levels of trash programming, as if factual reporting, reason and informed debate are things to be feared and shunned.
Every day I lose a little more faith in humanity.
26/09/2009 at 00:31 Nurdbot says:
Brilliant journalism brought to you by a TV station famous for exploiting Z list celebrities and annoying ancient soap operas.
Why hasn’t that TV station gone out business yet?
26/09/2009 at 00:36 Magnus says:
They are trying their hardest to go out of business, it’s all been downhill since “ITV digital” flopped.
However, the most watched shows are coronation street, the x factor and similar. That doesn’t give me hope for what direction they will choose to travel in search of increasing their revenue.
It is also not helped by the likes of the Murdoch clan trying to hamstring the BBC, which may be going downhill a touch, but still puts out far higher quality television than its domestic competitors.
26/09/2009 at 00:36 Cpt. Sqweky says:
It ain’t just Britain. American journalism is just as bad or worse. I did my high school magnum opus on video games and violent behavior, and it is just stunning how much stuff is out there blaming video games on pretty much every bad thing that happens, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. It seems like journalists feel threatened by video games and do everything they can to demonize them.
26/09/2009 at 00:39 Alec Meer says:
I really can’t help but frown at any “just ignore ITV” argument. That means I/we don’t see this kind of thing when it happens, but it doesn’t mean millions of others don’t. ITV may put out a lot of guff, but it’s a still a television channel of such status/market share that plenty of generally right-thinking people regularly tune into it by accident or design. People who now believe games kill kids.
I received a horrified text from an otherwise smart friend who’d watched it, convinced games were deadly for kids. I tried to put her straight, but I knew I was on a back foot because I wasn’t a serious-looking man on the television. The perception of expertise has changed dramatically in the last few years – if you’re given a public platform and demonstrate extreme confidence in your words, far too many people (both highly educated and otherwise) will presume you know what you’re talking about, no matter how factless it may be.
And as such ‘just ignore this sort of thing’ is a dangerous response. It’s important to rail against the rot, even in so minor a way as bibbling about it on a website or to a friend. Clearly, a high volume of calm, well-worded complaints that eventually led to ITV running an apology/admission of unbalanced reporting would be infinitely wonderful, but I have little to no idea of whether that’s truly possible.
26/09/2009 at 00:49 Magnus says:
How should we do more? The industry itself seems to let such things wash over them, or worse still, self-censor or cut material that is offensive to the vocal minority. Gaming is ever increasingly popular, and yet lags well behind music and film in terms of public perception. I can say I watch a film every day, and that won’t solicit a negative response, but to suggest you play two hours of games a day will have you regarded by a large section of people as having a problem.
This sort of terrible reporting occurs in so many spheres of life, and as someone with a keen interest in politics, it seems to be something that is pandered to rather than being fought. Why can’t we be more rational and reasonable as a nation?
26/09/2009 at 01:20 LewieP says:
I think the best thing we can do is show non-gamers the side of gaming that is wholesome fun, wildly entertaining, and probably massively educational.
I was looking after some of my friends young kids a few weeks ago, and I made them play World of Goo. They loved it, and told their non-gaming parents how they loved it, and (in seven and nine year old language) told them how it had given them an understanding of physics and basic structural engineering.
They are getting a Wii for Christmas.
26/09/2009 at 01:23 GreatUncleBaal says:
With regard to gaming’s public perception, it’s a lot, I think, to do with something Alec has already mentioned – the fact that people on telly aren’t representing it in any kind of meaningful way. You still don’t see game reviews done competently on the arse end of any multi-format entertainment programme, to my knowledge (which is admittedly shoddy) – which means that the medium is not being taken as seriously as it should be, given how much bloody money it pulls in.
I’d also echo the sentiment that a jittery “Fuck Off” to the powers-that-be will be less productive than a well-worded note of dissent – they’ll only quote the death threats, y’know.
Frankly, they should be glad we don’t live in an age where games like the devilish Werewolves of London (Spectrum version) still exist – murder, cannibalism, and jumping the turnstiles on the Underground.
28/09/2009 at 04:23 purpletres says:
gamers shouldn’t ignore ITV and the jack thompson types. so far it is a very one-sided argument. we must never tire, continue to educate, and provide our side of the argument.
26/09/2009 at 00:47 Nick says:
I’m inclined to agree, Alec. There is too much psuedo science on television that is taken as fact, not just in this program but everywhere.. horribly unscientific “surveys” and experiments with no real merit (never do they mention that you need LOTS of tests and experiments and data collection to even remotely indicate such things with any degree of accuracy).
It is a dangerous state of affairs, the media in general is constantly abusing its position and in some cases causing serious harm (like mass panic over Northern Rock, or the MMR scare) and yet no one in any position of power seems to take issue with this.
Frankly all I can do is write a complaint, for what good it will do.
26/09/2009 at 00:55 Thrawny says:
my son plays with lego for up to 5 hours a day, and freaks out if we take it away at bed time, clearly he is addicted to lego and needs help.
26/09/2009 at 00:56 Archonsod says:
TV? Isn’t that the thing people used to do before they invented the internet? Is that still going?
26/09/2009 at 01:21 LewieP says:
I met someone a few weeks ago who still listens to the radio!
26/09/2009 at 02:11 Malibu Stacey says:
I listen to the radio everyday. Actually I often listen to it while playing games
I’m like a contradiction all on my own.
26/09/2009 at 00:57 Shadowmancer says:
I don’t see how games except MMO’s can be addictive, its more of a kind of adrenaline rush than an addition. As for the reporting its the worst kind I sense the Daily Mail hate brigade on this. These kids should move onto either reading books or playing roleplaying board games like D&D if they are banned from the PC its more or less the same.
26/09/2009 at 01:03 Smurfy says:
Oak jives it!
If you rearrange that, you can spell out ITV is a joke!
26/09/2009 at 01:04 Smurfy says:
Hail to the Beeb.
26/09/2009 at 01:06 Shadowmancer says:
Notice they blur out the games we can’t see which games are the addictive ones lol.
26/09/2009 at 01:22 LewieP says:
I played “spot the game” to see if I could still work them out. One of them was Crysis.
I wonder who paid for the computer that could run Crysis? I’m gonna guess the parent.
26/09/2009 at 02:04 Shadowmancer says:
I also saw world of warcraft at one point, its funny they don’t show what games make these kids addictive. The only one not blurred out was WIii fit.
26/09/2009 at 01:22 Archonsod says:
I liked the Nottingham cop myself. Apparently, really good gamers make really good murderers.
I think I can see why Nottingham is considered Britain’s murder capital …
26/09/2009 at 01:30 tapanister says:
Am I allowed to say fuck them? And thank god I can’t watch that shit from my country, I’ve had enough subhuman unintelligent dickwads pissing me off for the day.
26/09/2009 at 01:35 GreatUncleBaal says:
Blimey, sounds like you’ve had a bad one. But, where are you from? And how do they portray games in your neck of the woods?
26/09/2009 at 01:45 tapanister says:
Man, you can’t imagine. I’m from the part of Europe where we a) have stray dogs everywhere and b)people are allowed to trap them in their backyard and try to kill them by beating them with sticks. I almost killed the mf’er soon as I saw what he was doing. It’s Greece if yuo haven’t figured it out btw, the country that banned all videogames for a few months in 2006 or something.
Well, about videogames anyway, after that disastrous temp ban the Greek goverment doesn’t interfere with videogames and they are not demonized by the press, but that’s mostly because nobody gives a shit and/or knows videogames exist. Although that leads to parents letting their kids to play MMOs in net cafes for hours which I find attrocious, but anyway.
26/09/2009 at 01:35 TwoDaemon says:
I suspect the only good thing I got out of this is some training for my latent psychic powers, given the amount of time I spent trying to kill that woman through the screen. Although if she actually died, it’d only get blamed on gaming anyway… Count the number of times ‘being a mother’ was used as an argument why gaming was evil.
I was quite amused by that kid who they were apparently claiming was ‘cured’ or some such having his horrifying gaming setup… which turned out to be a laptop, a couple of consoles and – horror of horrors! – some cushions to sit on. Seriously? My Dad has a better gaming setup than that. Okay, the milk bottle thing was a little weird, but there have got to be some more obsessive setups than that out there. Come on ITV, try harder at your hideously biased, sensationalist reporting!
26/09/2009 at 01:41 malkav11 says:
My mom was convinced, back in the day, that MUDs were responsible for my faltering grades in school. Never mind that the reason I wasn’t doing my homework was because it was boring and unpleasant . I mean, sure, MUDs were what I found most interesting as an alternative to homework, but I was more than happy to find something else (like reading) if she took away my internet access.
26/09/2009 at 01:47 tapanister says:
God forbid “learning” stuff at school becomes a pleasant task, then the world would turn upside down.
26/09/2009 at 02:01 Chris Keegan says:
So true magnus.
26/09/2009 at 02:08 postmanX3 says:
The day I see sense on television will be the day the sky turns red, the earth bleeds, and demons travel through cracks in reality.
26/09/2009 at 02:36 Llama says:
for people outside of the UK you might have a look around for this random collection of characters: aaf-itv.tonight.adg.nfo
26/09/2009 at 02:36 Lanster27 says:
“Sorry, this video is only available for view in the United Kingdom…”
26/09/2009 at 02:48 Jive says:
I like how they show that chap playing games whilst using a ridiculously over-sized headset. Gives it that proper Dr Who-esque brain-sucker appearence.
26/09/2009 at 02:51 bobince says:
> I actually went into it genuinely open to some well-reported stuff on a problem that seems to be on the rise.
What, from ITV’s Tonight? Not likely!
I’m staggered a programme as bad as Tonight is still on-air. Every episode I’ve seen, whatever the subject, has been a barrel of faux outrage, poor research and outright lies.
26/09/2009 at 02:53 Dracko says:
itv programming something something bad parenting something elephant in the room
26/09/2009 at 03:39 Nando says:
That kind of thing makes me sick.
Had a flame war disagreement with one of those game-haters the other day. These guys keep throwing this kind of pseudoscience for fact and proof of their ridiculous beliefs that games are bad.
26/09/2009 at 03:41 PureHalibut says:
According to ITV we can plan murders strategically like we would in a game.
And they try and say games don’t teach you anything.
26/09/2009 at 03:44 Psychopomp says:
Lord knows I’m plotting to stab my morbidly obese russian friend!
26/09/2009 at 03:52 Spoon says:
You see the program Pen & Teller did about videogame violence? It was pretty priceless. They took some 9 year old COD4 player, gave him an M16 and had him take a shot. He was scared and crying after one, and didn’t want to go near the gun again. Training murderers my arse.
26/09/2009 at 04:08 Sp4rkR4t says:
Just wait until the 29th when we get to watch Charlie Brookers Gameswipe, should be very entertaining and might even contain some fact. Plus it’s on the BBC and not some pretendy channel like ITV.
26/09/2009 at 09:52 Flobulon says:
Yay, I’d forgotten about that.
26/09/2009 at 13:12 Stupoider says:
Oh my god, Charlie Brooker is awesome.
I was surprised when I found out that he used to write for PC Zone. :D All his Wipe shows are awesome and You Have Been Watching is fantastic.
26/09/2009 at 04:29 Redd says:
“Listen out for the number of times the word “believes” is used.”
Oh! I’m glad someone else has noticed this little rule of thumb.
26/09/2009 at 04:38 Digit says:
I’m pretty much with you on the psychological aspect of some mechanics Alex. I think there is a fine line between how Valve approach light and colour use to make you feel safe in an area, to how some studios employ pretty low level repetitive mechanics.
Well it’s not the first time the video game industry has been someone elses whipping boy. What was this show shown on btw – is there a YouTube of it or something (being in Aus and also being sans a TV I clearly missed out. ;) ).
26/09/2009 at 04:44 Llama says:
They conveniently left out that the curly haired guy with the “ultimate gaming setup” also had a pretty hardcore COCAINE addiction. I remember seeing him in a similar show dutch show about the opening of the gaming addiction clinic.
26/09/2009 at 04:45 Llama says:
-show, you know an editing feature would be nice
26/09/2009 at 04:48 Heliocentric says:
Its okay though, we can make a game about how ITV is bad, you go through the game executing high ranking ITV executives.
Its win-win really, if games are addictive it won’t be long before hordes of gamers kill them in the streets and if not then there is still a good chance that nutjobs who also play games will kill them.
26/09/2009 at 06:13 TeeJay says:
Here is the same journalist writing about her own son: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/may/03/familyandrelationships.mentalhealth. It seems that he had/has clinical depression and various other issues. When she took away his computer he “took to sleeping for long stretches instead”. In the second to last paragraph she claims “[video games] helped create an environment that stopped him communicating with the outside world and made [the depression] worse” but doesn’t back this up any further.
The ITV programme again and again says the three kids are gaming “too much”, but it doesn’t say what “too much” means. It doesn’t say why it thinks sitting at a computer is any worse than reading a book, watching TV or even sitting in an office for hours and hours every day. Is it because it is an “unhealthy” lifestyle due to lack of exercise? Is it seen as problematic because it is ‘unsocial’? What problems does it cause exactly?
It may be true that for many people games are more ‘compulsive’ due to adrenalin (thrills) or dopemine (reward/success) but there are other activities that also produce these things. Some are very dangerous (eg scuba diving, which kills people every year). Even if this is true, isn’t an addiction strictly something that causes dependence and withdrawal, rather than simply anything that people enjoy doing and/or do alot? You can’t just measure it by hours spend can you?
It may be true that some people when they get depressed may become withdrawn and not want to go out or spend time with other people, and that for these people computers – be it the internet generally or games – offers a way they can associate with people and get at least some pleasure when otherwise they might be sleeping or staring at the wall. In which case using computers might actually be a *good* thing for them. If you wanted to discover this you would have a large group of depressed people and give half of them games to play, and see if this had a good or bad effect.
There are plenty of interesting questions to be asked about what is and isn’t “healthy” behaviour, how much computer use per day is “too much” (presumably important for businesses to know) – along with how much TV watching, book reading etc. It would be interesting to know what types of games and/or other media deliver dopamine and adrenalin ‘rewards’ and how far people’s behaviour is influenced by this. Research into whether socialising via the internet can actually be helpful to people who would otherwise be withdrawn and isolated would be useful – along with better research into treatment for depression generally (at the moment NHS treatment consists mainly of being given a box of pills every two weeks and a leaflet saying ‘get out more’. Good luck getting any talking therapy).
However, responding/reacting to this brainless ITV show is not a very helpful place to start with any of this.
26/09/2009 at 07:16 no says:
Better addicted to video games than religion.
26/09/2009 at 08:12 ArtyArt says:
Huh. Such one-sided documentations are rather common nowadays here in German television. Must be the tax-paid national television channels catering to their clientele (i.e. “old people”) and at the same time bashing the new medium on the block. This falls on fertile grounds, since you maybe all know that German politicians like to choose videogames as their target of choice, especially in election years like this one. I guess only scientific investigation will yield some answers. Go, go, little psychologists (and don’t you be paid by those evil television people).
26/09/2009 at 08:29 PC Monster says:
ITV stopped being a channel you took seriously some years ago. In fact British TV in general has taken a nose-dive down the sh1tter in terms of output and quality of said output every since SKY was first allowed to broadcast in the early 90′s; that – more than any of the steaming piles they served up as evidence in their cure little propaganda piece – is why more and more of us are playing games in the first place.
Rupert Murdoch has much to answer for.
26/09/2009 at 08:32 matt says:
Argggg, this program makes me rage. learn parenting skills plx
26/09/2009 at 09:02 bansama says:
I’m going to have to wait for this to turn up on my favourite site for getting UK TV shows, as the hunt for a working proxy is growing tiresome.
26/09/2009 at 16:07 TeeJay says:
Have you tried UltraSurf?
26/09/2009 at 09:06 Dingo says:
We have this crap in Germany too. Just a few days ago a Bavarian ex-minister said Counterstrike was developed by the US Army to train their soldiers for killing.
26/09/2009 at 09:19 Hulk Hogan says:
I will admit I learned all my fighting skills from playing Punch-Out, don’t tell anyone please.
26/09/2009 at 09:31 luckystriker says:
I encourage all you british folk out there to email a complaint to ITV about this trash. Don’t write from the point of view of a gamer, but as an intelligent adult outraged at the show’s lack of scientific evidence, insight and outright lies. There have been many good responses in this thread already. All you need to do is pass it on to ITV.
26/09/2009 at 09:45 Batolemaeus says:
You’ll get used to it, Alec. We have this almost weekly in our German publicly funded tv..
26/09/2009 at 09:47 TheBlackBandit says:
What have I learnt from games? Randian philosophy for starters!
26/09/2009 at 10:17 Amasius says:
This article proves beyond doubt that not video games make people aggressive, bad television does. ;)
26/09/2009 at 10:35 underproseductor says:
People can become addicted to almost anything, as long as It gives pleasure and satisfies at least some of human needs (need for entertainment, for example). It’s a state of mind that produces psychological addiction. With enough willpower you can overcome any addiction. The bad thing is that too many people lack willpower and blame others for that.
26/09/2009 at 10:39 stormbringer951 says:
It’s pretty funny actually. Pseudoscience at it’s finest. We should refer this to badscience.net
26/09/2009 at 10:52 Andy says:
I got about 4 minutes in before it all became too much. Is it surprising that a 6 year old kid starts screaming when you try and physically grab away his favourite toy? No. If you want him to stop playing you need to use other methods, the only problem with that child is that his mother is a fucking retard and doesn’t know how to parent.
Video games are escapism and the reason those older boys probably play for too long is because they hate their hate their normal lives so much and are probably depressed. By all means, seek treatment for depression, but since there is not such thing as gaming addiction there’s not much point trying to do anything about it. It’s a symptom of something else, not a condition in itself.
26/09/2009 at 11:00 We Fly Spitfires says:
Thanks, missed it on TV so I’ll need to check it out online.
It sounds very annoying though. I don’t believe in gaming addiction as a physical thing either although I’m sure there are people out there who are addicted to it mentally. Still, there are people who are addicted to chocolate and silly things like that. Usually this sort of addiction is due to social circumstances and mental issues rather than anything else. Blanket saying that all video games are addictive is downright silly.
26/09/2009 at 11:00 Andy says:
Also, what is up with the kid that plays with his hands crossed over? Mouse on the left of the keyboard, but with his right hand on it and his left hand on the keyboard? What the fuck is going on there? Is this some new pro-playstyle I am yet to discover.
26/09/2009 at 11:22 LewieP says:
I had the same thought.
26/09/2009 at 17:12 LukeE says:
I used to play like this. With a very sensitive mouse it can slow down the rate at which it moves enough to give you proper control, while still letting you use the ultro-sensitivity twitch reflex for whatever.
Also, my desk was very small and I had an enormous CRT. There wasn’t enough room for my mouse on the right side of the keyboard. :)
26/09/2009 at 11:30 TheSombreroKid says:
i would say why are you watching itv alec, but the more pertinant question is why are you watching tv, it’s quickly being made redundant by games and internet, itv are hit the worst and have the poorest morality and working practices, it’s no suprise they’d try to convince thier dwindling audiences that the internet and games are bad.
26/09/2009 at 11:31 Rinox says:
In general, people still watch much more TV than play games. So the whole “games addiction” and “games made him do this” argument is hilariously retarded.
Remember the eighties? “OMG kids are copying behavior from violent gang war films – we must ban all!!”
Yeah, you don’t hear that anymore. The onus is now on games. It’s such bullshit. :-(
26/09/2009 at 11:58 Lack_26 says:
I missed the first ten minutes but saw the rest, one of their pieces of ‘evidence’ was essentially that
‘clinics are treating people for games addiction, ergo games must be addictive’
Hmm, could it be because said clinics realised they could charge people for it and so set it up, that’s smart business not scientific research.
26/09/2009 at 12:03 Chaz says:
I managed to watch about 5 miniutes of this last night before turning over, after I realised it was just going to be a blatently one sided cock and bull piece of anti video game scaremongering. This kind of programming just makes me angry.
This kind of program just takes advantage of peoples fears of the unknown. In this case middle class, middle age parents who don’t understand or really know anything about their children’s hobby.
Perhaps instead of scaring parents with this rubbish, they should be encouraging them to try and participate with their children or take a bit more of an interest in what they’re playing on a friendly level.
Besides, kids have been locking themselves away in their bedrooms to play computer games since the early days of the home computer, so it’s hardly a new thing is it. Anyway its hardly suprising kids don’t want to go out doors and play these days, what with all the scaremongering about kidnapping predatory pedophiles stalking our streets, and drug dealers, and murderous children (probably video game addicits taught to kill by their computers, oh and Chucky from Childs Play).
26/09/2009 at 12:04 Travis Barbour says:
Alec Meer you speak the truth. It was a terrible programme that gave an amazing insight into the lives of some, but failed to recognise that it is not the fault of the industry that people reject any social activities.
Respect to you and your site is now bookmarked.
26/09/2009 at 12:29 pepper says:
Your right about gamedesigner using elements to keep people playing. its that simple. Complete books have been written about the subject of keeping the gamers attention to the game, and how to serve them new content and situations. The art of gamedesign touches these elements briefly. But then more from a personal perspective from the writer where he draws a paralel between gamedesign and a show performance(jugling) and how he was learned to keep the public interested.
26/09/2009 at 12:50 Dante says:
Of course they are, all entertainment mediums work that way, books are written to keep you reading, films and TV to keep you watching.
26/09/2009 at 12:55 pepper says:
My point exactly. Although i feel games have a greater power in this aspect, because a lot of times the player can do this on his own pace and thus feels like having a certain amount of control over this process.
26/09/2009 at 12:58 Ludo says:
I remember John Walker did an actual peice of Journalism on addiction in gaming for PC Gamer a while back. It demonstrated that for addictive personalities games can become a problem for some. The worst part about these programmes is that it stifles the sensible discussion needed to help people who might actually be suffering some form of addiction.
You’d hope ITV would show a bit more sensitivity. They could have made something thought provoking that might have helped people, they could’ve commissioned studies and moved the debate forwards. Instead they’ve followed the same trashy, rushed, populist commissioning trends that have seen their channel crash and burn over the last 5 years.
26/09/2009 at 13:09 Stupoider says:
ITV sucks. BBC is where it’s at, maaan.
26/09/2009 at 13:21 Joe says:
Complaining to ITV – or even Ofcom? – seems like a good idea. But by that criteria, one would have to complain about:
every
television
documentary
EVER!
Seriously, TV is just not the format for sustained examination of an issue. Even highbrow stuff like Adam Curtis gets it wrong. But yeah, let’s get our complain on – and a quick email to badscience.net would not go amiss.
26/09/2009 at 13:27 slimjimadair says:
I was half expecting the “gaming addiction clinic” in Amsterdam to be a combination brothel/coffeehouse: “here’s some weed and a woman – this is what you’re missing”. Also, I found it a little odd that the Dutch former gaming addict, Tim, couldn’t tell left from right; he must be baffled by quick time events.
26/09/2009 at 13:31 Ed says:
Something must be done to stop this growing menace!
Sensational news reporting shows are corrupting our adults!
That’s not just opinion, thats FACT – I know this as fact because I’m an adult and I feel outraged having watched this.
*show photograph of leatherfaced bint*
Moral panic kills hundreds of people every second in the UK!
*invert photograph*
26/09/2009 at 13:31 Butler` says:
Missed the first 10mins which would seem to have been the worst judging by your comments. I found it pretty uncomfortable viewing, but then I expected nothing more.
26/09/2009 at 14:21 Paul Moloney says:
I have occasionally noticed that my keyboard does indeed smell of hammers.
P.
26/09/2009 at 16:08 Mr. ThreEye says:
Correlation is not causation. Is pants!
26/09/2009 at 16:59 torchedEARTH says:
Is it possible sparky is just a chav twat?
Hey, here’s an idea, be parents like you are meant to be! You can use the time in between cashing income support cheques.
26/09/2009 at 17:50 Dracko says:
Yeah, when they got little Sparky to open his mouth, I couldn’t see the improvement. He’s almost double digits, for fuck’s sake.
26/09/2009 at 18:03 Tezka says:
When you’re playing videogames, you’re not watching tv, you’re not watching adds, they lose money.
Sums it up.
26/09/2009 at 18:25 cliffski says:
I’d love to debate video games on a serious TV show. I’d point out how my games are used to teach politics in schools and universities, and also talk about how there are special-needs teachers who use Kudos to teach social interaction to autistic children. I’d also point out how much more gratuitous violence was in he average evenings TV output than there is in the average PC game.
And I’d point how how refreshing it is for kids to be entertained for hours at a time without people trying to sell them stuff every 14.2 minutes.
And probably reference how interactive entertainment leads to more mentally alert kids than the ones who sit and watch coronation street.
And at 39 years old, I’d be the complete counterpoint to their assumption that games are made by immature boys for immature boys…
If anyone on TV wants someone to interview on the topic, email me :D
26/09/2009 at 18:37 Wednesday says:
TheBlackBandit , I would not say learning “Randian Philosophy” is in any way a good thing.
26/09/2009 at 20:44 clive dunn says:
I have always ensured that my drug, alcohol and FUN intake is way above my games intake. That way, any corruption incured, will be down to them and not the games.
Saying that, me and my brother were driving home the other night after a heavy night of drugs and GTA IV and both felt the incredible urge to career into the pertrol station and in a blur of fire and smoke emerge clutching AK47s and Cheesy Wotsits!
26/09/2009 at 21:11 Corvus says:
From some of the comments, this sounds remarkably like an episode of Tonight first shown a few years ago. I wonder if it was a repeat, or whether they just lazily recycled material from that old episode?
I specifically remember the little boy called “Sparky” (seriously, if that is what his parents have actually named him, he already doesn’t stand a chance). I remember him throwing a tantrum when his mum turned his console off in the middle of a game, and thinking that if someone had done that to me I would have behaved the same way. When I finally become a parent, I’ll at least let them save or get to the next checkpoint :-)
Anyway, roll on Gameswipe tuesday. The show’s BBC webpage mentions that it will explore “how the media represents games and gamers”, so I will watch with interest.
26/09/2009 at 22:00 Hotdog says:
Agggghh! got 7 minutes in then raged. bloody ignorant people
26/09/2009 at 23:25 Joseph says:
Has the video been removed? The video player gives me a “video could not be found” error.
Sounds like awful poisonous trash indeed.
26/09/2009 at 23:46 drewski says:
Ironically, videogames helped cure my depression. Woo dopamine woo!
27/09/2009 at 01:13 cncplyr says:
Haha, love the examples on that page! :D
27/09/2009 at 04:06 sinister agent says:
There was a brilliant propaganda piece on this kind of thing a few years ago on the today programme with trevor mcdonald. One particularly satire-proof section described a young man who was clearly very depressed for a long time and grew up playing a lot of video games. TEN YEARS LATER, JOHNNY WAS DEAD. It was almost verbatim. Laughable, only because the alternative is to get so angry and disgusted that you vomit your own eyes out.
27/09/2009 at 08:04 Kommissar Nicko says:
I think this bears rementioning:
Jahkaivah:
“Bah details….. be sure to quickly flash the inverted colours of the killer’s photo though, that makes him seem more evil”
It can be generally understood that any videogram/televisory-based newsreportomatron that uses this exact technique can automatically be dismissed as completely awful and fit only for imbeciles. However, it’s also par for the course in most American newsreportomatron programs.
27/09/2009 at 14:18 Digit says:
No links to a webisode of this? I wanna experience bad TV too! :<
27/09/2009 at 17:27 Malibu Stacey says:
Try reading Alec’s post all the way to the end.
27/09/2009 at 19:35 Stephen says:
Actually it’s button 5 for me, but since button three is BBC 3 your point stands.
27/09/2009 at 19:38 Stephen says:
Humph. ignore that. don’t interstand this system. And what happen to edit? Also another vote for the BadScience.net.
27/09/2009 at 22:57 eyemessiah says:
I accidentally watched an episode of Tonight some years ago about child porn. It had Carol Vorderman interviewing an exec from Pipex or Demon or one of those 90s dialup ISPs and she was saying “Our research shows that there is child pornography on the ‘internet servers’ and we demand that you switch them off!” and he was saying “Uh – I don’t think it works that way Carol.” and then it more or less insta-cut to Carol walking down the street indignantly saying “Well, its obvious that we aren’t going to get any cooperation from the service providers…”
The whole thing was so horrifyingly misconceived I ate my own head to avoid seeing Tonight ever again, and since I ate my head I never have.
28/09/2009 at 02:38 Shnyker says:
My Two Bits: We seem to have the only hobby that spans the gamut from innocence to pure bloody, sexualized, profane. We have variety and we obviously have something special in what can be seen as a hobby, an interactive art form, and a means of skill building and information if it were to be utilized. I think perhaps TV media worries that it knows the net will knock it outo f bussiness at some point, and wants to hit its main audience in the gut.
Assholes.
28/09/2009 at 02:45 headhole says:
“Tonight” just makes me miss the good old days of Chris Morris doing spoof documentaries. It’s the worst kind of tabloid journalism, and if there’s a TV Reporters gentleman’s club somewhere I hope Trevor MacDonald has had his membership rescinded.
28/09/2009 at 04:01 purpletres says:
don’t worry.. they used to (and still do) say the same sorts of things about cinema, movies, and television.. gaming is the new emerging media art form that is explosively gaining popularity. it’s going to run up against the same knee-jerk reactionary haters that it’s predecessors did. there’s going to be bogus studies, sweeping generalizations, bad media attention, and stupid legislation, but gaming and gamers will prevail :)
06/10/2009 at 12:17 KindredPhantom says:
Has anyone who lodged a complaint with ofcom about this show received a letter back from them? I have just received one this morning.
06/10/2009 at 18:38 Dante says:
Go-on, post it.
06/10/2009 at 20:45 KindredPhantom says:
Here we are:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/693/scan0001sl.jpg
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/7650/scan0002wy.jpg
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